Clearwater weather by month
The best time to visit Clearwater is March to May — 91/100 in April, 28°C and 4 rainy days. The best season is spring, March to May (90/100 on average).
The worst month is January at 70/100 — nice, a little rain, clean air. See January →
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit United States →
Best season: March to May (90/100 on average) · worst January (70/100)
- Days
- 28°C
- Nights
- 19°C
- Wet days
- 4
- Sun
- 11.1 h
- Humidity
- 75%
- Daylight
- 13 h

Clearwater, month by month
Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Clearwater is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.
What's on in Clearwater through the year
Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.
- January
- Snowbird season5 Jan – 31 MarSeason
- March
- Spring break1 Mar – 15 AprSeason
- May
- Sea turtle nesting1 May – 31 OctNature
- Memorial Day weekend23–25 MayHoliday
- Gulf warm enough to swim1 May – 15 NovSeason
- June
- Atlantic hurricane season1 Jun – 30 NovHazard
- July
- Independence Day3–5 JulHoliday
- August
- Labor Day weekend5–7 SepHoliday
- Red tide1 Aug – 28 Feb (usually)Hazard
- October
- Clearwater Jazz Holiday15–18 OctFestival
- December
- Christmas and New Year24 Dec – 1 JanHoliday
Crowds in Clearwater in April
How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.
BusySpring break(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Traveller notes on Clearwater
What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.
Clearwater's forum calls March usually lovely beach weather, though winter isn't fully done with the Gulf coast yet — a cold front can still blow through and cool things off for a day or two. Regulars flag March as one of the area's busiest months as snowbirds and spring-break families both converge, so book well ahead and pack a warmer layer just in case.
April is the month Clearwater-forum regulars name as their favourite: warmed up but not yet the summer mugginess, highs in the low 80s F, lows in the mid 60s, and not usually a wet month. The water is the split decision - averaging about 73F, which visitors from further north find fine and locals still call chilly. The cost is company: snowbirds and spring families overlap, prices run high and hotels book early. Red tide is the wildcard nobody can promise on; it varies year to year, and when it is around the wave action puts toxins into the air, which matters most if you have a chronic respiratory condition. The record: 27.5C days feeling like 30C, 19.1C nights, 4.2 precipitation days, 11.1 hours of sun, a 25.4C Gulf and a 26.5 kph breeze.
One regular reports the gulf at 77F for the first week of May; our column gives 27.2C, which is 81F, so as usual the monthly figure describes the back half rather than the front. Either way it is swimming water. Air is 30.1C reading as 34C at 75 percent humidity over 22.1C nights, with a 24.4 kph sea breeze that is most of the reason the beach is bearable at midday. Rain has not yet turned on, 64.9mm across 4 days, with 11.8 hours of sun. The standing advice on this board has nothing to do with weather: check the red tide report before you travel, because a bloom brings sore throats and itchy eyes and moves week to week. The record: AQI 53.
Forum posters describe September as genuinely pleasant compared to the peak heat of June-August, with a typical day starting sunny, clouding over for an hour or two of afternoon rain, then clearing back up - a fully rained-out day is called rare. Warm, clear water is a consistent draw this time of year, conditions permitting. On hurricane season: posters are unbothered, saying the odds of a storm actually disrupting a given visit are firmly in the visitor's favor, though September/October is flagged as the stretch where a tropical storm (short of a full hurricane) is most plausible. Overall it's described as a genuinely favorable, popular time to visit despite technically being hurricane season.
Regulars are specific this remains genuinely within hurricane season, a real tropical storm risk still capable of disrupting travel plans even this late in the year. Our row backs that hot, genuinely wet read, 29.4C reading as a scorching 32C, over 22.3C nights feeling 23C, with a substantial 96.6mm of rain across 6.3 days and humidity at 77 percent. Regulars are consistent daytime temperatures commonly land in the mid-to-upper 80s Fahrenheit, humidity noticeably lower than the peak of summer, the water itself cooled from its 85F high but still genuinely pleasant for swimming. The sea sits at a warm, swimmable 25.7C. The record: 9.7 hours of sun, a 25.7 kph wind and AQI 41.
Add your own note from Clearwater's card on the map.